president clinton president clinton and rudy giuliani and governor cuomo and governor schumer and city and state federal and international officials and dignitaries, friends and family, fellow new yorkers, everyone is here today. i have no doubt ed is beaming and watching us down here. before last year's state of the city speech, we ran a video that included a shot of ed denting at -- standing at the entrance ramp and yelling to all the cars that approached,, welcome to my bridge. welcome to my bridge. [laughter] needless to say, he brought down the house. after the cameras stopped rolling, he stayed out there in the freezing cold shouting, welcome to my bridge. he loved it and we loved him. no mayor i think has ever embodied the spirit of new york city like he did. i do not think anyone will. brash and irreverent, full of humor, he was our city's it essential mayor. it was an attitude he displayed for the world every day. we have such respect for him. it was matched by his integrity, intelligence, and independence. i was lucky enough to get an endorsement from him for first term of ma